Wednesday, January 20, 2010

First off - many folks asked for good resources out there on various things, so I figured I'd give my recommendations and try and encourage some bloggers to write more.

On cat stuff: Coldbear has done quite possibly the most exhaustive writeup of feral dps that exists or that could exist. The video is awesome (especially if you happen to be taking ritalin) but the thing I most commend him for is the literally amazing wowwiki feral dps entry. The sheer amount of work on this is insane. Some great tips I learned from him are some of the UI fun bits, using GotW right before the pull to get an OoC proc and using nature's gift to maybe get one while pooling energy. But really - he's got it all.

I linked him before when he did some work on Arpen mechanics and the tricky question of when to switch - but you should still go visit Vallen at Feral Aggression and bug him to post more. He writes with a great style in a very approachable way, and he has a lot of things to say. Go say hi, show him you're interested and ask him to explain more stuff.

On bear stuff: there's sadly just not that much out there. The one I can wholeheartedly recommend is Darksend's great I'm not Feral, I'm a bear. He does a good job posting over at Tankspot and putting up movies, but you should bug him to post more otherwise.

For a newer set of all-around info, Alaron and the Fluid Druid is great and I hope that he continues to post a lot. The basic starting point on bear tanking and cat DPS should be required reading for any bear wanting to do any raiding. He's a bit busy right this moment, but hopefully he'll get back into the swing of things.

I really encourage you guys to comment on their blogs, ask them questions and in general go say hi. There's nothing more encouraging or inspiring to a writer than readers, and I've written some of my best work simply because someone left a good comment. If you want more things written - ask :)

Other than that, the EJ forums, tankspot, and the dreaded wow forums are all good resources. And Rawr. Always Rawr.

Onto some shoutouts for peeps out there. I'm sure I will miss a ton of people, and that's my personal failing.

-Andrew/Karthis - you were my biggest inspiration for starting writing at a good clip, to the point where my blog looks and is formatted a lot like yours was. (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?) Your taking a break made me write more, and you leaving made me write even more, but no matter what I provided I could never fill that void. You were a great read and a good person to talk to. Thank you for giving so much back and doing it so well.

Flyv - it was awesome when you and Karthis and I were all bouncing ideas off of each other and getting more and more information. It really felt like a community and it was really synergistic. Sorry to see ya go.

Runycat - theory comes and goes, but your writing went way beyond that. You were seriously awesome and amazingly helpful, and damnit you were fun. The world needs more people like you. Some day it'd be great to bring the significant others and have a beer.

Copey - one of the best contributors to comments on this site. I'm really glad you spent the time to write.

John Patricelli - you gave me my first big break, and my success is almost entirely because of that. I'm sorry we didn't get along; that was entirely my failing.

Fasc - my partner in crime over at the wow forums. I didn't always agree with you, but I always respected what you were saying and why, and it was nice to have some sanity in the wilderness.

Astrylian - I don't think anyone has written something as profound as you have for this community. Thank you for doing such an amazing piece of work and for writing so well about it.

Communism - thank you for providing such clarity and quantitative analysis on the wow forums. It kept me from killing people with my bare hands. :)

Phae - congratulations again on the sprout. He's beautiful. :) You were the best of us, and you made me want to join the druid community.

Toskk - you were doing it before it was cool. Just astounding work that every feral owes a huge debt to.

15 comments:

J
said...

Kalon -

Long time lurker here (well, i did post a comment once or twice). Just wanted to say thanks for the contribution to the druid community. Kind of sad to see you go because you're such an asset and you seem like a genuinely nice guy, but also happy for you because you get to focus on things that are far more important. Bravo, sir.

I’m stunned that you even mentioned me. Let me say again that it has been a joy to read your writing, you have helped me more then I could have ever deserved. Thanks so much for your time, and I hope all is well for you and your family. They say all good things must come to an end, but I hope that in some way there is a new beginning for you in some way that makes you happy. Enjoy your family, they truly are the best thing in this world.

Kalon-You were a great source of information and probably the best one out there. You will be missed. Thank you for all the hard work you put in and I wish you good luck with where life takes you from here.

I totally did not deserve top billing. The best of the best feral blogs just got reduced to Fluid Druid and Feral Aggro. If I have sometimes seen far it's because I stood on the shoulders of giants. And all I really see is cool stuff, feral dps and wow movie-making. You guys can have the theory and the reasons why - I'll just ride on the coattails of you and Rawr and whatnot.

Cheers for doing so much for the community for so long. Nothing lasts forever.

Thanks for the kind words. You easily eclipsed my bear work once you got rolling, and created a perfectly crunchy blog for us number nuts. It is/was amazing, and hopefully you'll keep it in hibernation for all of the ravenous feral Googlers than rely on it for a good start in their tanking careers.

And if you ever get some time, stop by my blog... I may not write about WoW anymore, but I do write about video games on a regular basis. =)

Cheers for all the great writing and for contributing to the druid community. A lot of practical advice I scored from yours and other blogs. Like many other druid bloggers who have moved on you will be missed. Take care of yourself and the family.

Hey, man! Thanks for the shout-out. It really feels awesome to be remembered. I've moved on from WoW I'm afraid, but not from blogging. I don't have a computer right now but eventually when I get back up and running I'll be regailing anyone who cares to listen with my adventures in Guild Wars 2 :)

ThinkTank bio

About Me

Kalon likes playing tanks, no matter how hard he tries to fight it. He is not as hardcore as many but spends a lot of time thinking about WoW, and randomly rants about it now and then. He played formerly on the Argent Dawn (EU) server and was a founding member of Fire and Blood (Quel'Dorei) before joining Casually Serious, a guild devoted to hard core progression on only 8 hours of raiding time a week.
He is a devoted husband, father, and when he has the time programs software.